Open AccessMicronuclei in epithelial cells from sputum of uranium workers.
Author(s) -
Dana Loomis,
Carl M. Shy,
James W. Allen,
Geno Saccomanno
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of work, environment and health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.621
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1795-990X
pISSN - 0355-3140
DOI - 10.5271/sjweh.1773
Subject(s) - micronucleus test , radon , sputum , micronucleus , confidence interval , radon daughters , occupational exposure , tobacco smoke , toxicology , medicine , uranium , radon exposure , environmental health , carcinogen , lung cancer , physiology , biology , pathology , toxicity , genetics , tuberculosis , materials science , physics , quantum mechanics , metallurgy
The cytogenetic effects of exposure to radon progeny and cigarette smoke were assessed with the exfoliated-cell micronucleus assay among 99 uranium workers. Cells with micronuclei were determined in one sputum specimen from each worker. Exposure to radon progeny and smoking habits were classified from interview data collected at the same time as the sputum specimens. Underground miners were considered exposed to radon progeny, and the other workers were considered unexposed. Neither radon progeny exposure nor cigarette smoking had any appreciable effect on the prevalence of cells with micronuclei; the crude prevalence ratios for the two groups were 1.0 (95% confidence interval 0.7-1.4) and 0.9 (95% confidence interval 0.6-1.3), respectively. The effects of radon and smoking were not confounded by each other or by age, nor were they synergistic. These findings cast doubt on the use of sputum-based micronucleus assay in epidemiologic studies of other populations exposed to occupational or environmental lung carcinogens.